“Lamb to the Slaughter”
Roald Dahl
For each of the following, respond in complete sentences, phrasing the question in your response, and include support from the text.
1.
Describe the opening setting to the story as Mary Maloney waits for her husband to come home. Give details.
2.
Give at least two quotations from the story to prove that Mary is obsessed with her husband and dependent on him for her happiness.
3.
Near the bottom of page 12, Patrick tells Mary something, but the author does not give that information to the reader it is implied by Mary’s reaction and the events that follow. What do you think he tells her?
4.
What impact do you think Mary’s physical condition might have on hearing this news?
5.
How does Mary react to Patrick’s news? Give details.
6.
What are Mary’s immediate feelings after killing her husband?
7.
Do the officers treat Mary as a suspect? Give details to support your answer.
8.
Dramatic irony is when the reader is aware of information to which other characters in the story are not aware. Why is it dramatically ironic that Mary says, “It’d be a favour to me if you’d eat it up.” What do the police not realize?
Mary’s Character Qualities Evidence from the story
BEFORE the murder
Mary’s Character Qualities
AFTER the murder

Possible Answers for “Lamb to the Slaughter” Questions:
1.
Describe the opening setting to the story as Mary Maloney waits for her husband to come home. Give details.
The short story begins with a clear description of the setting that includes several details regarding place, time and atmosphere. The physical space is described as “clean, [with] the curtains drawn, [and] two table lamps alight – hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses, soda water, whisky” (Dahl 10). The tidiness and order of the room suggest that “she” intentionally keeps the home this way. There are two lamps and two glasses to indicate two inhabitants within this home. The curtains are drawn and the room is “warm” (10) to suggest that the timing is mid-day or late afternoon, as sunlight still enters and naturally heats the room.
The atmosphere of the scene is calm and welcoming as Mary Maloney patiently waits for her husband’s arrival. Mary observes the time “but without anxiety” (10). She carefully and deliberately prepares the room for two people so that, upon her husband’s arrival, she can greet him and enjoy his company.
The atmosphere, then, is inviting.
2.
Give at least two quotations from the story to prove that Mary is obsessed with her husband and dependent on him for her happiness.
Mary ‘s obsession with her husband is recognizable in the opening events of the story as she waits patiently for her husband’s return from work.
As Mary waits for her husband “now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety, merely to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer the time when he would come” (10). Mary’s calm expectancy of her husband’s return reveals that, although she is not anxious, she anticipates his arrival. She glances at the clock to “please herself” and acknowledges that, with every passing minute, it is nearer to the time when he will return. Instead of busying herself with various activities to pass the time, Mary chooses to wait for her husband, watch the time and anticipate his return.
 “This was a blissful time of day” (11)
 “She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man to feel almost as a sunbather feels the sun” (12)

 “She loved the intent far look in his eyes when they rested on her” (11)
Mary further shows her obsession with and dependency on her husband once he comes home through her subservient actions. After greeting him with a kiss, she “took his coat and hung it in the closet. Then she walked over and made the drinks […] and soon she was back again in her chair with the sewing”
(11). Prior to her husband’s return, Mary happily thought about, and anticipated, his return. Upon his arrival, Mary is intent on expressing her affection for her husband with a kiss and then taking his coat and preparing a drink for him. She spends very little time away from Mr. Maloney since, after performing her duties, she quickly returns to the living room to spend time with him. Mary takes pleasure simply in being in her husband’s presence.
Once again, Mary’s dependency on her husband for her happiness is evident by the shock revealed through her inner thoughts after Mr. Maloney shares his mysterious news. While Mr. Maloney remains calm and deliberate in his demeanor, Mary can only “[watch] him with a kind of dazed horror as he went further and further away from her with each word” (12). While the nature of Mr. Maloney’s news is ambiguous, one can infer that he plans to end their relationship. As Mary receives the news, it is clear that she is not only surprised but also in denial and in a “daze”. She eagerly anticipates his arrival after work to spend time with her husband and is greeted only by a cool and distant response. The distance that Mr. Maloney seeks is reflected in Mary’s thoughts when she describes the palpable tension “as he went further and further away from her with each word”.
Finally, Mary’s uninhibited and instinctual response to the sight of her dead husband after returning from the corner store reveals her odd obsession with Mr. Maloney. Despite her callous attempt to establish an alibi after murdering her own husband, Mary cannot disguise her response to the truly shocking discovery of his dead body: when she saw him lying there on the floor with his legs doubled up and one arm twisted back underneath his body, it really was rather a shock. All the old love and longing for him welled up inside her, and she ran over to him, knelt down beside him, and began to cry her heart out. It was easy. No acting was necessary.
(15)
While Mary’s decision to murder her husband is impulsive, her response to the sight of his lifeless body suggests a longing for and dependency on her husband. True love would have prevented her from murdering him at all but obsession, or infatuation, leads her to mourn his loss. Moments later, she

phones the police and commences the performance that spares her a lifetime in prison.
3.
Near the bottom of page 12, Patrick tells Mary something, but the author does not give that information to the reader. It is implied by Mary’s reaction and the events that follow. What do you think he tells her?
 Perhaps Mr. Maloney has accepted a new job assignment and he has to leave Mary for an extended period of time (he promises to support her financially but requests that she remains calm and controls her emotions).
 Perhaps Mr. Maloney admits his true feelings about Mary: she is obnoxious and dependent. As a result, he arranges a personal vacation away from his wife.
 Perhaps Mr. Maloney admits to an extramarital affair. He rejects Mary’s attempt to fix him supper, since he plans to go out, which suggests that he may be sharing a meal with someone else. o “I hope you won’t blame me too much” (12) o “He moved further and further away from her with every word”
(12); physical distance is paired with emotional distance
 Perhaps Mr. Maloney asked Mary to leave because her obsession with him was disturbing
4.
How does Mary react to Patrick’s news? Give details.
Upon receiving Patrick’s news, Mary appears to enter into a dreamlike state where she remains in denial of the information she has received. Her refusal to acknowledge that Patrick is leaving her is clear by her immediate thought process:
Her first instinct was not to believe any of it, to reject it all. It occurred to her that perhaps he hadn’t even spoken, that she

herself had imagined the whole thing. Maybe, if she went about her business and acted as though she hadn’t been listening, then later, when she sort of woke up again, she might find none of it had every happened. (13)
Mary’s refusal to acknowledge the gravity of Patrick’s news demonstrates her blissful ignorance, denial, and naivety. Her reaction is not heartbreaking but, rather, immature. She does not respond emotionally or intensely; instead, she refuses to accept the information as truth. Her numbness, or inability to recognize the implications of Patrick’s news, is further shown through her physiological response: “when she walked across the room she couldn’t feel her feet touching the floor. She couldn’t feel anything at all – except a slight nausea and a desire to vomit” (13). Mary’s movements are likened to floating, or drifting, through the home, in the same way that she drifts through reality, where she never firmly plants herself in the moment. She drifts beyond reality and is incapable of fully accepting the truth that has been revealed to her.
In addition, she responds in a familiar fashion: through servitude. After hearing Patrick’s news, she resumes her domestic duties by offering to prepare supper, yet “everything was automatic now” (13). She retrieves the leg of lamb from the freezer without much care or thought. She remains in a daze and is operating mechanically and subconsciously. This unconscious behaviour is further exemplified through the murder of her husband. After carrying the leg of lamb upstairs, Mary “simply walked up behind [Patrick] and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head” (13). This response is automatic and spontaneous; this reveals the absence of deliberation as she fails to “pause” before murdering her husband.
5.
What are Mary’s immediate feelings after killing her husband?
Mary’s immediate feelings after killing her husband are void of true emotion. She feels “cold and surprised, and she stood for a while blinking at the body … All right, she told herself. So I’ve killed him” (13). At the beginning of the story, Mary’s thoughts appear to establish her as a wife who truly loves her husband, yet she shows no remorse for killing the man whose warmth she longed to feel. She remains calm and detached when she acknowledges, apathetically, that her husband is dead. Immediately after accepting his death, her mind is cleared and she begins to calculate her next move.

 Psychopath o “It was extraordinary now how clear her mind became all of a sudden” (14) o “She sat down before the mirror, tidied her hair, touched up her lips and face […] she rehearsed [her alibi] several times more”
(14)
 Apathetic o “She quite knew what the penalty would be, that was fine […] on the other hand, what about the child” (13)
 Obligated o “Mary wasn’t prepared to take a chance” (14)
6.
Do the officers treat Mary as a suspect? Give details to support your answer.
7.
Dramatic irony is when the reader is aware of information to which other characters in the story are not aware. Why is it dramatically ironic that Mary says, “It’d be a favour to me if you’d eat it up.” What do the police not realize?
Mary’s Character Qualities
BEFORE the murder
Evidence from the story
 Submissive
 Dutiful, domesticated
 Dependent
 Needy
 Patient, calm
 Content
 Excited
 Loyal
Mary’s Character Qualities
AFTER the murder
 Meticulous, calculating
 Duplicitous

 Cunning, clever, devious
 Insistent
 Insane, psychotic
 Sneaky, sly, mischievous